While a candidate will commonly urge voters to vote consistently in almost every election and state — that every individual vote counts this year — they would have a point.
18 to 35 is the age range for the Millennial Generation and, for the first time, the entire generation will have the opportunity to vote, making up roughly 31 percent of the electorate, close to equaling Baby Boomer generation, which also makes up roughly 31 percent.
This is the first time that a generation has been able to challenge Baby Boomers as Generation X — made up of those aged 36 to 51 — never had a large enough population to challenge the Baby Boomers. Even now, they only make up 25 percent of the electorate, with the last 12 percent being of the Silent/Greatest Generation.
This adds up to 99 percent with the remaining 1 percent being between these different generations.
What does this mean?
It means culture is changing and, with it, politics. We live in a time where social media dominates the internet and owes its creation largely to the Millennial generation.
Every time Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or Gary Johnson tweet, they are speaking to the generation that created Twitter. We’re seeing a focus on important issues that in the past have always fallen to the wayside, such as college affordability.
Both Democrat and Republican candidates have introduced some form of a college plan that offers either a decrease in tuition or free tuition outright.
While it is true that members of other generations attend college, statistically the grand majority of higher education students today are of the Millennial generation.
Politicians are focusing on getting that vote from the younger Millennial Generation, by appealing to issues that concern them.
Many politicians have already cemented themselves with the Baby Boomers, because participating in elections has become routine for them.
This isn’t to say issues that are important to the Baby Boomer generation are not hot topics for politicians - they still are. But because the number of Millennials roughly equals the number of Baby Boomers, past statistics have shown that it doesn’t really matter.
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Of all generations, Millennials actually have one of the lowest voter turnout rates with the smallest electorate holders, with the Silent/Greatest Generation, ironically enough, representing some of the most active demographics come election season.
The size of a generation hardly matters if we don’t show up to vote.
So if this is the case, why are politicians speaking to Millennials at all? Because of potential; Millennials can be serious contenders to Baby Boomers in shaping the future of America.
Furthermore, this election has been privy to that which was once thought to be impossible.
We have two large candidates who have actually made history, according to CBS/New York Times polls, in how unpopular they are and, for a significant amount of time, Hillary Clinton’s greatest rival was a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist.
In the past this would have been unheard of, especially in the 1950’s where the term “socialist” was automatically equated with “communist.”
So will Millennials vote, in what has become one of the oddest election cycles for any generation, and where social media has become one of the largest platforms for candidates and media coverage has been all over the place?
One could say that stranger things could happen. After all, beginning with who is representing the major parties in this election, they already have.
Nichole Harwood is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
